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Although environmental education research has embraced the idea of sense of place, it has rarely taken into account environmental psychology-based sense of place literature whose theory and empirical studies can enhance related studies in the education context. This article contributes to research on sense of place in environmental education from an environmental psychology perspective. We review the components of sense of place, including place attachment and place meanings. Then we explore the logic and evidence suggesting a relationship between place attachment, place meanings, pro-environmental behavior, and factors influencing sense of place. Finally, based on this literature we propose that in general environmental education can influence sense of place through a combination of direct place experiences and instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a qualitative study of the experiences of 23 Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) participants to determine what participants found significant about their course and to what course elements they attributed this significance. Participants experienced personal transformations, which they attributed to spending extended time in pristine nature, separation of the course from normal life, the community that formed among course participants, and the intensity and challenge of the course. Whereas outcomes related to personal growth, as opposed to changes in environmental behaviors (instrumental learning), are consistent with participant motivations for joining OAE courses and with most course activities, transformative learning theory suggests ways in which courses might integrate personal growth with instrumental learning to better foster environmental behaviors post-course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental education researchers have called for a greater analysis of 'learning' in environmental education in relation to contemporary theories and explanatory frameworks of learning. Situated learning, as a prominent example, is a sociocultural theory that contends that learning is a social process that occurs as individuals participate in 'communities of practice'. This study aims to enhance our understanding of the usefulness and applicability of the communities of practice framework to the analysis of learning in environmental education, focusing on the learning in after-school environmental education programs for Hispanic youth. Results suggest that the framework can be applied to identify some environmental education programs as communities of practice, characterized by the development of joint enterprise, mutual engagement, and shared repertoire. The framework was also found to be useful in identifying and describing learning as bringing about changes in identity formation as a result of participation in the programs. Finally, we suggest that such programs, due to their free-choice nature and multiple opportunities for participation, also offer suitable contexts for further research regarding the relevance of sociocultural theories of learning to environmental education practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this contribution, we propose and explore the following hypothesis: civic ecology practices, including urban community forestry, community gardening, and other self-organized forms of stewardship of green spaces in cities, are manifestations of how memories of the role of greening in healing can be instrumentalized through social learning to foster social-ecological system (SES) resilience following crisis and disaster. Further, we propose that civic ecology communities of practice within and across cities help to leverage these memories into effective practices, and that these communities of practice serve as urban iterations of the collaborative and adaptive management practices that play a role in SES resilience in more rural settings. We present two urban examples to build support for this hypothesis: the Living Memorials Project in post-9/11 New York City, and community forestry in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. These cases demonstrate what we refer to as a memorialization mechanism that leads to feedbacks critical to SES resilience. The process begins immediately after a crisis, when a spontaneous and collective memorialization of lost ones through gardening and tree planting ensues, following which a community of practice emerges to act upon and apply these memories to social learning about greening practices. This in turn may lead to new kinds of learning, including about collective efficacy and ecosystem services production, through a kind of feedback between remembering, learning, and enhancing individual, social, and environmental well-being. This process, in the case of greening in cities, may confer SES resilience, through contributing to both psychological-social resistance and resilience and ecosystem benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we attempt to integrate environmental education, with a focus on building capacity at the level of the individual, with frameworks for resilience, with a focus on adaptive capacity at the level of the social-ecological system. Whereas previous work has focused on enhancing system-level capacity through building adaptive capacity in individuals, we suggest a wider range of processes for linking individual learning with resilience in social-ecological systems. In particular, we use activity theory as a lens to examine how environmental education programs situated within adaptive co-management practices might foster learning among youth while contributing directly to environmental quality, building and distributing multiple forms of knowledge among stakeholders, and changing adult behaviors in a local watershed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of globalising trends toward urbanisation and resettlement, we explore how agricultural knowledges may be adapted and applied among relocated people. Although indigenous and related forms of practice-based knowledge may be temporarily lost as people adopt commercial agricultural practices and switch to non-agricultural livelihoods, they are capable of resurfacing when contingent opportunities arise. This contribution to the collection draws upon case studies of recollection and application of agricultural knowledge as revealed in narratives from immigrant gardeners in New York, USA, and relocated farmers in Sebakwe, Zimbabwe. In these narratives, the communities draw upon their reserves of knowledge to respond to changes within their local environments. Such knowledge can serve as a source of community resilience through enabling people to sustain their livelihoods and community well-being, and thus adapt to environmental changes and displacement. We also explore possibilities for applications of such knowledge in environmental education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on resilience in social-ecological systems. He focuses on the roles of learning and environmental education in the social-ecological systems. He focuses on achieving a deeper understanding of the relationship between learning, society, and sustainability. He discusses the terms resilience and learning with context to environment.

Social-ecological resilience, a rapidly expanding area of scholarship internationally, seeks to understand how society and ecosystems mediate, adapt, and learn from change. This special issue is a pioneering attempt to explore the overlap of resilience, learning, and environmental education, in which four broad perspectives have emerged: (1) environmental education and learning may foster attributes of resilient social-ecological systems (e.g., biological diversity, participatory forms of governance, short feedback loops); (2) environmental education should not be viewed as an isolated means to address environmental issues, but rather as a complex and multifaceted part of a larger system of interacting structures and processes; (3) resilience thinking at multiple levels suggests a 'way out' of the instrumental/intrinsic split in environmental education; and (4) parallels among concepts used in learning theory and social-ecological systems resilience may contribute to discussions of transferability of ideas across disciplines. Whereas the authors are overwhelmingly positive about the potential contributions of environmental education and learning to resilience, in this endpiece to the special issue we offer cautions in suggesting the need to look for counter examples and to be concise in the use of terminology. Finally, we pose several research questions that might guide further work in this area, including: What are the outcomes of different approaches to environmental education relative to resilience attributes, such as social capital and ecosystem services? How do environmental education programs situated in management practice impact learning and values at the level of individuals and organizations? What role do different types of environmental education play in governance? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the practices of teachers, nonformal science educators, community organizers, youth program managers, and other educators facilitating youth participation in local environmental action, as well as the experiences of some of the youth involved. We conducted narrative interviews with 33 educators facilitating youth environmental action in communities throughout the United States and group interviews with 46 youth participating in nine environmental action programs in New York State. Through interpretation of educators' stories and youths' reflections, we discovered strong parallels with theory and empirical research in the youth development literature suggesting environmental action is a valuable context for positive youth development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In William Scott's plenary address at the World Environmental Education Conference, he expressed concerns about the relevance of environmental education research in a world facing global environmental and demographic change. In responding to Scott's concerns, I argue that addressing challenges related to development and the environment requires examining EE goals at multiple levels as well as bridging diverse disciplines. I further suggest that integrating social-ecological systems and other approaches in environmental education research may provide a means for consilience among potentially divisive environmental education practice and research traditions. In so doing, I hope to spark debate about possibilities for an environmental education research agenda and learning organisation that spurs action relevant to concerns about the environment, individuals, and their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although several studies have examined learning outcomes of environmental action experiences for youth, little is known about the aims motivating practitioners to involve youth in action creating positive environmental and social change, nor how practitioners perceive success. This research explored through phenomenological interviews practitioners' purposes for using an environmental action approach. Practitioners in this inquiry, who engaged youth in action addressing a range of environmental issues in varied programmatic and community contexts in the US, expressed multifaceted aims motivating their educational practice. Interpretation of practitioners' stories with respect to their purposes and perceptions of success contributed to a conceptual framework relating environmental action to the development of citizens and sustainable communities. Whereas others have described the stages and learning outcomes of environmental action, this inquiry illustrates the potential of environmental action for concurrently realizing individual and community level impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]